The Octagon returns to Singapore this weekend, just over a year on from the UFC’s last venture to the Southeast Asian Territory.
UK fans can settle in to enjoy some morning MMA action with the prelims kicking off at 9.30AM on Saturday morning, before the main card takes us through to the afternoon! What a time to be alive!
The card itself is predominantly filled with Asian talent, topped off by a welterweight main event between divisional gatekeeper Donald Cerrone and rising British prospect Leon Edwards.
Donald Cerrone requires no introduction, with the American being tied with Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre for the most wins in UFC history. Cerrone had a disappointing 2017, with three losses to Jorge Masvidal, Robbie Lawler and Darren Till.
Cowboy will look to build on his victory over Yancy Medeiros in February this year, after stopping the Hawaiian with just seconds remaining in the first round.
Birmingham’s own Leon Edwards will look to make his mark on an always competitive welterweight division, having won five straight in the octagon. Edwards has brushed aside the likes of Albert Tumenov, Vicente Luque and Peter Sobotta on his way to entering the top fifteen at 170lbs.
It’ll certainly mark the toughest test of Edwards’ career so far, with Donald Cerrone sure not to take another Brit lightly after then rising star Darren Till walked through him in Gdańsk last year.
The co-main event sees highly rated light heavyweights Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux look to make their mark on a slowly dissolving division.
Australia’s Tyson Pedro has rose from obscurity to prominence in the last eighteen months, after defeating Khalil Rountree, Paul Craig and Saparbeg Safarov. A sole loss to Ilir Latifi is the only blemish on Pedro’s record, having won all of his seven bouts in the opening round.
Saint Preux certainly has the experience advantage, having shared the octagon with the likes of Jon Jones, Gegard Mousasi and Ryan Bader. The American is considered to be dangerous both standing and on the canvas, with eleven knockout victories complimented by six submission wins. Saint Preux has three victories by way of the rare Von Flue choke... to put that into context, we’ve only seen it used five times successfully in the history of the UFC.
Jessica-Rose Clark will look to make it three consecutive wins in the flyweight division after defeating Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant. She faces Jessica Eye, who ended a four-fight losing skid in January, defeating Kalindra Faria by split decision.
Keep an eye on Jingliang Li as he faces Daichi Abe in the main card opener. Li is a huge star in China, and also has four “of the night” bonuses in his nine of octagon outings.
The long-awaited UFC debut of former ACB bantamweight champion Petr Yan, who is expected to breeze through Japan’s Teruto Ishihara, who has won one of his last four in the octagon.
Enjoy some Saturday morning MMA fight fans!
Full Fight Card
Main Card (1PM on BT Sport)
Welterweight: Donald Cerrone vs. Leon Edwards
Light Heavyweight: Ovince Saint Preux vs. Tyson Pedro
Women’s Flyweight: Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Jessica Eye
Welterweight: Jingliang Li vs. Daichi Abe
Prelims (9.30AM on UFC Fight Pass)
Bantamweight: Petr Yan vs. Teruto Ishihara
Bantamweight: Felipe Arantes vs. Yadong Song
Featherweight: Rolando Dy vs. Shane Young
Welterweight: Hector Aldana vs. Kenan Song
Women’s Strawweight: Xiaonan Yan vs. Viviane Pereira
Flyweight: Matt Schnell vs. Naoki Inoue
Flyweight: Jenel Lausa vs. Yuta Sasaki
Women’s Flyweight: Melinda Fabian vs. Ji Yeon Kim
